LIVEAssisi - OsimoGiro d'Italia - 16 May 2018

Giro d'Italia – Follow this cycling race live with Eurosport. The action starts at 21:20 on 16 May 2018. Our live coverage lets you follow all the key moments as they happen.Get all the latest on Cycling: the big races, schedules and results.

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Highlights

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15:53

Fabio Aru and Patrick Konrad into the top 10 at the expense of Chris Froome and Michael Woods. And yes, Yates's lead is now 47 seconds over Dumoulin and 1'04" over Pinot.

15:49

Confirmation of today's stage result.

15:48

Yates will add two seconds plus 10 bonus seconds on Dumoulin. That's 12 seconds, minus the six seconds that the Dutchman picked up as bonuses at the finish. So, he extends his lead by six seconds to 47 seconds by my reckoning. A big effort for so little return - or the sign of a champion elect? Either way, Yates has his second win of this Giro and the day belongs to him once again. Roll on the Mortirolo.

15:45

Riders came home in drips and drabs with the top 10 separated by 21 seconds. Chris Froome didn't like that punchy finish and came home 40-odd seconds behind Yates, who looks increasingly assured in the pink jersey.

0km

Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) teakes second place two seconds back and Davide Formolo (Bora-Hansgroghe) is third another few seconds back.

Yates goes through the city gates and onto the cobbles. He still leads but the gap is small and the chasers are closing in on Dumoulin...

1km

The maglia rosa passes under the 1-to-go banner. he's going to win this because Dumoulin is making no in-roads behind...

1.3km

Stybar then Wellens are reeled in. Yates leads with Dumoulin and Pozzovivo chasing. Froome has cracked!

1.5km

Mitchelton-Scott have Kreuziger leading the chase - and Yates is well placed in the small chase group. And it's Yates who attacks when the road goes uphill!

2km

Just seven seconds for Wellens and Stybar as they approach another uphill section.

2.5km

The negotiate the tight right-hander. There are numerous splits in the pack with a group of about 30 chasing - so there will be time losses today...

3km

The gap is 10 seconds now for the leading duo...

4km

Stybar and Wellens have a good gap on this zippy downhill following that nasty cobbled ramp.

4.5km

There's been a crash. Sergio Henao is down, as are a few others - including Davide Villella and a Katusha rider. Chaves has sat up.

4.8km

The leading duo are caught just as the peloton swings onto the cobbled ramp - and it's Zdenek Stybar and Tim Wellens who power through and open up a gap.

5km

De Marchi has a last dig with the peloton breathing down his neck. Sanchez joins in but Masnada gives up...

5.5km

And here are Katusha-Alpecin pulling for, who? Jose Goncalves perhaps. It looks doomed for the escapees.

7km

Chaves has come to the front - as have Bahrain Merida... Gap down to 20 seconds.

8km

BMC send a man to the front - perhaps to disrupt the chase? They have De Marchi in the break with Sanchez and Masnada and the gap is down to 35 seconds. Now Pinot goes! The Frenchman comes to the front with a Groupama team-mate. Meanwhile, Yates and Chaves are deep in conversation...

9km

Lotto-Fix All are back on the front for Wellens - and Sunweb, EF-Education First and UAE Team Emirates are all there alongside Groupama, Sky and Mitchelton-Scott. It's business time.

10km

This is how hard the final 5km are today. 5km to go until we hit that point. The gap is 44 seconds.

12km

Masnada has been dropped by De Marchi and Sanchez over that climb but manages to ride back on as the road levels out. These are leg-sapping legs of extreme proportions. Still 45 seconds back to the pack.

13km

We're onto another steep ramp and Simon Yates has come to the front of the main pack in his pink jersey. He means business today. Many riders have been blown off the back - the pace has been relentless today, and now these savagely steep ramps are really taking their toll. Elia Viviani is one of many who has been distanced. No hat-trick for the Italian today.

15km

The gap is a minute as the three leaders pass under the 15-to-go banner. Given the kind of finish we have in store - with two 16% ramps in the final 5km - then it's hard to see them going the distance.

16km

It's all over for Maestri and Turrin who are swept up by the pack. Trek-Segafredo, Bora-Hansgrohe, LottoNL-Jumbo, Mitchelton-Scott, Groupama-FDJ and Team Sky are all near the front of the pack now - plus Astana send in the cavalry. With the gap down to 1'05" perhaps they're going to play the Lutsenko or Lopez card instead of the one marked Sanchez.

18km

And some more of those tributes...

19km

Here are those balloons in honour of Michele Scarponi...

20km

The Lotto-Fix All team of Tim Wellens continue to lead the chase and they have reduced the gap to 1'28" as the three leaders pass under the 20-to-go banner. The two chasers are 50" down and will be caught by the pack before they catch their former colleagues in the break.

25km

There's no way back for Turrin and Maestri - the last two riders to join the break are the first to leave it. The gap is down to 1'45" for Sanchez, De Marchi and Masnada. Will it be enough?

28km

Hundreds of blue and yellow balloons have been released as the peloton pass through Filottrano so the sky is filled with the colours of Scarponi's team Astana.

29.5km

A classy gesture...

30km

It's a really steep incline into the town - and both Maestri and Turrin have been dropped as ruthless Sanchez, Masnada and De Marchi ride clear.

31km

The five-man break are on the uphill dig to Filottrano, where the second intermediate sprint is located.

32km

Puncture for one of the LottoNL-Jumbo riders in the pack as the gap comes down to two minutes.

35km

36km

38km

Michele Scarponi's old team-mate Luis Leon Sanchez comes to the front of the break to drive the pace. The gap is down to 2'10" as the race edges closer to the late Italian's hometown of Filottrano.

40km

45km

The finale today is on a steep cobbled ramp and it's preceded by loads of leg-sapping gradients. It's going to be very explosive.

50km

The gap is down to 2'40" and so it's still touch and go for the five escapees. Sanchez is a quadruple Tour de France stage winner and De Marchi has twice won on the Vuelta, so they have good pedigree. But it's still a tall order given the hunger behind.

54km

Despite the grey clouds it's also pretty sunny out there today as the riders hit some of Michele Scarponi's old training roads.

58km

Fausto Masnada crests the summit in pole position to add another 7pts to his KOM tally. The Italian now draws level with Thibaut Pinot on 36pts in the battle for the maglia azzurra, with only Mitchelton-Scott duo Simon Yates (55pts) and Esteban Chaves (47pts) ahead of him.

62km

The gap is back up to three minutes as Lotto-Fix All, Trek and LottoNL-Jumbo continue to share out the duties on the front of the pack, giving Mitchelton-Scott a day off.

64km

It hasn't rained yet but it may do so soon...

67km

We're onto the Cat.3 climb to Valico di Pietra Rossa and it's De Marchi who drives the pace in the break.

-

70km

Mads Pedersen, in his Danish national champions jersey and with his right knee and elbow bandaged, drives the pace in the pack for Trek-Segafredo, with two LottoNL-Jumbo riders in his wake. The gap is still 2'25" ahead of the next climb, which is about to get under way.

72km

Nicolas Roche needs a wheel change in the feedzone following a puncture. The gap had come down to two minutes but is now back up to 2'30".

75km

The peloton has just passed through the feedzone which may result in the chase being knocked off a little. It's a delicate balancing act because those teams with stage aspirations today - the likes of Trek, LottoNL-Jumbo and Lotto-Fix All - won't want riders of Sanchez and De Marchi's calibre to have too much time to play with, but at the same time they will not want the break to be reeled in too soon otherwise that may spark some dangerous counter attacks.

78km

It's not looking so promising for the break now as the gap comes down to 2'40".

82km

With the exception of Luis Leon Sanchez, this is an all-Italian break. The host nation won three of the first five stages through Elia Viviani (twice in Israel) and Battaglin, but have not added to that tally since the latter's victory at Santa Ninfa in Sicily. Since then we've had wins for Colombia, Ireland, Ecuador, Britain and Slovenia, following earlier wins from the Netherlands and Belgium. In fact, another way of looking at it: Italy are the only nation to have won multiple stages on the 101st edition of La Corsa Rosa.

86km

Alex Turrin earns his spurs in the break and wins the intermediate sprint at Castelraimondo. Back with the main pack, Trek-Segafredo and LottoNL-Jumbo have come forward to lend a hand to Lotto-Fix All in pace-setting duties. Perhaps Gianluca Brambilla or Enrico Battaglin, who won stage 5, fancy their chances in Osimo?

90km

The gap is 3'30" still and so it's become fairly stable.

95km

Lotto-Fix All have come to the front of the pack to regulate the gap alongside Mitchelton-Scott. That's probably because they have high hopes for stage 4 winner Tim Wellens at today's finish - and here's why...

100km

With one-hundred clicks remaining the gap is 3'20" for the five escapees: Sanchez, De Marchi, Maestri, Masnada and Turrin. Masnada is the best placed of these riders on GC but the 24-year-old is 11'37" down in 25th. A promising start to his Grand Tour career.

103km

Here was the moment that Gio Visconti allowed Turrin to leave the peloton and ride off in pursuit of the break.

106.5km

Sanchez urges his fellow escapees to ease up a little and allow the last chaser, Alex Turrin, to join. He knows that they stand a better chance of succeeding with five committed riders - plus he's made the calculation, what with the peloton being four minutes in arrears.

109km

Maestri joins the leaders and gives elder statesman Sanchez a tap on the bottom to let his presence be known.

111km

Maestri is still around 30 seconds down and Turrin another 25 seconds as they crest the summit. Back with the pack, it's Mitchelton-Scott dupo Svein Tuft and Sam Bewley who control the tempo on a far more sedate day in the saddle for the Australian team, half of whom were completely shanked by Chaves' plight yesterday in the longest stage of the race.

114km

It's that man Masnada who crests the summit of the Passo Cornello in pole position ahead of Sanchez and De Marchi. That's an extra 7pts for the Italian who moves onto 28pts in the KOM standings, which is up to fourth place. Simon Yates leads this climbers' competition with 55pts but it's his team-mate Esteban Chaves who is in blue (on 47pts) because of Yates being in pink.

116km

Masnada has managed to catch De Marchi and Sanchez. The leading trio have 3'30" over the pack. Masnada, who may remember, was in the break on the stage to Gran Sasso d'Italia and was the last man to be caught on the day Simon Yates won stage 9.

118km

So, we have Alessandro De Marchi (BMC) and Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) in the lead with Fausto Masnada (Androni Giocattoli), Mirco Maestri (Bardiani-CSF) and Alex Turrin (Wilier Triestina) all trying to bridge over, but separately.

119.5km

Interesting scenes on the front of the peloton as Gio Visconti (Bahrain Merida) asks permission from Simon Yates, the pink jersey, and the other favourites to let one more rider try to join the break. Once permission is granted, Visconti's compatriot Alex Turrin, of Wilier Triestina, bounds clear in pursuit of the others.

120km

The gap grows to 1'20" for the two leaders, who have Masnada and a Bardiani rider in pursuit.

121km

Now Androni-Giocattoli send a man up the road in pursuit of the leading duo. It's looks like Fausto Masnada. He has a Bardiani-CSF rider in pursuit - and it looks like the peloton has called a truce and given up now that we're onto the Cat.3 Passo Cornello.

122km

The leading duo of Sanchez and De Marchi have about 30 seconds on the pack now. A lone chaser from Trek-Segafredo - not Pedersen - has been reeled in by the Wilier Triestina and Bardiani-led peloton.

125km

Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Alessandro De Marchi (BMC) have been very active today and both are now on the front as the road drops before the start of the climb.

126km

We're onto the little climb into the hilltop town of Nocera Umbra, which precedes the first Cat.3 climb. A small gap of around eight riders have formed with Spanish veteran Ruben Plaza (Israel Cycling Academy) driving the pace. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) was instrumental in teeing this move up.

130km

It's worth adding that Chris Froome - who is back in the top 10 following Chaves' capitulation yesterday - had an early puncture when the pace was high and needed a frantic fight to get back in. That may explain why Sky have a rider on the front monitoring this attempted break.

132km

Nine riders now have a small gap over the back - but it looks doomed because so many are trying to bridge over ahead of the climb.

134km

Alessandro De Marchi (BMC) is trying his best to force a move with some other riders. He was active towards the finish yesterday. But it looks like Team Sky's Christian Knees has closed down that one.

-

Talking of St Francis of Assisi earlier, today the Giro welcomes a very special guest in the guise of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, better known as Pope Francis.

135km

It's no surprise to see Astana on the offensive today: the stage passes through Filottrano, the birthtown of the late Michele Scarponi, near the finish as the veteran Italian is commemorated by the Giro.

140km

Bora-Hansgrohe, Bardiani, Ag2R-La Mondiale and even Luis Leon Sanchez of Astana have had a pop. But the peloton is yielding nothing. It's a fast and furious start to the stage but so far nothing has stuck.

145km

Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Ben King (Dimension Data) have opened up a small gap but it's neutralised by a big effort from Androni, who have had riders in every break of the race so far - including Marco Frapporti yesterday.

150km

Attacks from the outset as riders from Katusha, BMC, Bardiani and Ag2R-La Mondiale all try to get in the mix - as well as the usual suspects, Androni-Giocattoli. It's a more forgiving start to the stage - in terms of terrain - than yesterday, when that early climb from the outset completely ransacked Esteban Chaves's hopes for a high GC finish.

155km

They're off! The remaining 169 riders have left the achingly scenic city of Assisi and this intriguing stage is under way...

12:10

Here's what's on the menu today - more climbs and a punchy finish that could spark many a battle: for the stage, for GC and for the other classification jerseys too.

12:05

Colombia’s Esteban Chaves toiled in the longest stage of the Giro d’Italia and plummeted out of the top 10 as Slovenia’s Matej Mohoric won a two-way sprint with Germany’s Nico Denz to pick up a deserved maiden win on La Corsa Rosa. On a bittersweet – but predominantly bitter – day for Mitchelton-Scott in Le Marche, race leader Simon Yates picked up a few intermediate sprint bonus seconds to strengthen his grip on the pink jersey as team-mate Chaves cracked on the first of three categorised climbs to finish a massive 25 minutes down on stage winner Mohoric.